Love the bikes, everybody - thanks for sharing! I'm new to mountain biking and am in the market for a bike, so it's fun to see what you all ride. Currently I commute on my Surly Steamroller and compete in triathlons on my Blue T16, and I can't wait to add another bike to the stable.

Hey All: I'm new to this site and new to mountain biking and I first want to thank you for SAVING MY LIFE. I made BOO BOO numero uno and went to the local Walmart (stone me to death in the courtyard) and bought something I read about in the Beginners' Bikes forum. Immediately Returned it with their crappy Coleman tent with the sticking zippers and patched up seams. Now i have $250 burning a hole in my pocket and can match that for a decent bike I can grow into and enjoy this sport on. I don't want to pay over $600. I'm in touch with REI annd local bike stores in Albuquerque, NM. I live outside the city in an area called the East MTNS. How appropriate for my new sport. Anyway, I'm going to test drive the Marins, GTs, Treks, and maybe Giants (It doesn't look like Specialized makes female hoppers) AND WHATEVER ELSE YOU TELL ME TO CHECK OUT. I know I need a hardtail whatever that means. Are linear brakes OK or will disc be better? I'm 5 5 ave build and 55 yrs. old in pretty good shape except when i fall down. Please help with input. I don't plan to race or go up and down the Grand Canyon. I just want to enjoy the sport and back roads of my land of enchantment! Judith

I just got a brand new Wahoo 29er disc! I am not going to post a pic yet because it is pretty much exactly as it looked when it left the store less my pedals and seat from my old bike. I'm pretty excited to have a nice bike now though. I was riding an old old Gary Fisher and it wasn't the right size anyway so this is a big step even though the Wahoo is not the top of the line bike. It's a vast improvement so I'm happy.

First bike: My son's Walmart special. I trashed 2 derailleurs and decided a Real Bike would be less expensive in the long run.
Second bike: The Frankenbike. A basic blue Trek hardtail (will they ever get imaginative with color?), no brakes, shifters, or anything on it matched, and I decided if I was still riding it in three years, I'd buy a Real Bike.
Third bike: A purple Ellsworth Truth that I have loved and ridden the wheels off a couple times. A Real Bike. But I want something new, because all the other girls are going 29er.
My next bike? Demoing a carbon Trek Top Fuel. It's grey and ugly as homemade sin and eats up everything in sight like a 17-year-old boy on a growth spurt. But the ride is pretty great! I just try not to look down at it too much.

Wow - you guys have AWESOME bikes. I'm looking at a new beginner bike (and I mean, wimpy, fraidy-cat beginner). I've been a trail RUNNER for years, but injury has me looking at bikes. 29 seems too big to start with. I was looking at REI's Marin Bear Valley Women's bike in a serious look. I know they'll measure me and fit me which seems to be important. And I've looked at components with ignorance - looking at prices to see what's "better" since I don't know otherwise..
Any word on the Marin Bear Valley? Is Novara a better brand? $500 is my price range - I'm of the mind that I need to really learn to ride on a basic bike - nothing too fancy (they have a Scott Contessa 30 on sale, too).. (of course - ha, both of these are $600/$650)...
So, what's a not-fancy basic, good-enough for beginning/intermediate trail riding bike?

Here's my Yukon FX. Started back in March having never been on a mountain bike. As a matter of fact, I hadn't even been on a bike since 1990. (yeah, I 'm a 50+ master class ;-) But I started MTB as cross training for trail running, and now the bike is my passion!

A beater bike. Every bike here embarasses mine. Even the other beaters.

I will just give a link, it isn't even worth taking a picture of. Parts are all stock except the accessories and saddle. I have the 16" woman's frame (which is too big for me at 5'3"). I am slowly piecing together a real bike from the bargain bins, but it is months away. I am not sure if my Diamondback even has that long left in it considering how often and where I ride :/BikePedia - 1996 Diamondback Outlook Complete Bicycle

I am building a real bike on a 14" woman's Haro V2 frame (maybe 2006? Not positive on the year), so it still won't be nearly as nice as most stuff here. But I am gonna be proud as **** about it and post pictures all over as soon as I get it all together

So THAT is why everyone on the trail acts so surprised and impressed when they see me riding around!

Today was the first day the bike flat out pissed me off. I wanted to take a trail that was a step up. I looked at the hill, and knew gawd damned well I could ride it. Stopping or controlling my speed in any way, however... I turned around and found some bunny hops to play on. While turning to the path, bike skidded into the middle of the path instead of slowing down, as if to just let me know I made the right choice. I had to jump off to get it under control before I hit a rock. I went through the bunny hills then walked it down the rest of the way, which was just as steep as the section I just bypassed. I really wanted to try to get my first taste of airtime :/

I bombed down my regular route like bat outta hell and went over as many large rocks in the rock garden as I could handle. That'll show it!

Now, don't get me wrong, I am actually enjoying the full rigid and plan to tune my suspension in pretty tight. I didn't like squish when I tried it. This bike I'm on just doesn't exactly inspire much confidence towards it's reliability...

Haha, sorry about the rant I have avoided openly *****ing about the bike until now. Straw that broke the back and all that today >.< I can still work on the sections on my regular route, and get those down top notch

the stable's getting a little crowded. The front one is my newest addition - Specialized Myka 29er. I got it after testing a Specialized Hardrock, and because it was a good Craigslist find. Then I went to the LBS and spent up all the money I'd saved by buying used on shoes and pedals. Woohoo!

and sorry it's so big, help on resizing this would be nice. I tried doing it through my photobucket acct but no luck. As is you can enjoy three bikes in their full glory

I just added a '13 Specialized Epic Expert Carbon 29... well, kinda. It's on layaway I've about had it with my '12 Giant Rainier 29er 0. I can't even bear to look at it anymore. And what do you know, the new bike has no pink on it, haha.

I Just finished this bike for my gf in the hopes of getting her into mtb's
$60 for a 08 myka comp with v brakes and shot tires off CL
I added avid bb5 brakes, sun rims w/ Deore hubs, Panaracer fire xc tires, SRAM x7 shifters, and a botranger saddle. I didn't wanna buy new then her hate it so building this was fun if nothing else.

My Wife's bike Fang

My wife's GT. The bike started as a bare frame from Nashbar for $98. (didn't include rear shock and was a horrible brown color). I built it up with a 2 by 10 drive train to start, but she had problems with the front shifting due to nerve damage in her hand from a horse riding accident when she was a professional equestrian. The front mech would move away from the chainrings as the suspension compresses and combined with her weak thumb, she couldn't make it work. I adapted the frame to accept hammerschmidt, and Jess loves the current set up with front shifting problems a thing of the past. The chain line is a lot better now as well being an 83 by 150 set up, instead of the 73 by 150 stock set up.

She is doing great as a beginning rider. She is really pleased at how much of her hunter/jumper skills adapt to bike riding.

Purchased my new 9 Zero 7 about 6 months ago. Enjoyed it a few times this summer on the shores of Lake Ontario & have been averaging 4-5 rides a week since the snow started flying. Unfortunately we are having a unseasonably warm week and the snow is almost gone from high temps & rain

Oh my god. I love your 9zero7.Fantastic. I have snow here too. In answer to the women looking for beginner bikes i was too. Since I last posted here in april of 2012, I purchased a KONA TIKA MTN BIKE 26" tires sized to me. Got it on sale for about $750. Added Armadillor tires becuase I was getting so many flats from goatsheads. I REALLY MISS THE GT KARAMGORAM 29r that i returned to store because of all the flats. I blamed the tires. The i found a Fuji Absolute 3 on BbikesDirect online for only $400 to use as a road bike. I like it's straight handlebars. Less spooky. I live at 7000' in mtns of nm and could see myself on the above. I need to research it.

Hi Msrutzie,
I know this is an old thread, but I was looking for a matching pink fork for my wifes pink Yeti, and came across the pics of your Ibis with pink fork on google.
Can you tell me what model that fork is?? It looks like a Manitou R7, but I cant find any info on it. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

These were all purchased this year. Prior to these, I had a KHS Crest MTB for about 10 years while my kids were little and I had no "me" time. Before that, I worked in a bike shop and had a revolving door of various bikes. Voodoo, Redline, Torker, Gary Fisher, KHS, Univega, IronHorse, Diamond Back, Quintana Roo, Lotus.
One constant is I like steel as a material. Other than that, I swear I am all over the place for rides.